Faugheen (foaled 2 May 2008) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2015 Champion Hurdle and back-to-back Christmas Hurdles in 2014 and 2015. His best performance on a racecourse came in the 2016 Irish Champion Hurdle for which he was rated the best two-mile hurdler of the 21st century. His career started over Point-to-point fences as a four-year-old and was sent racing under National Hunt rules in the 2013/2014 season where he emerged as a leading Novice hurdler, winning all of his races including the Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle, Cheltenham Novices Hurdle and Herald Champion Novice Hurdle acquiring the nickname "The Machine" in the process.
Faugheen continued his undefeated run in the next season out of Novices company when he was kept over hurdles, winning his first three races in Britain with victories at Ascot and a month later in the Christmas Hurdle, followed with a win at the highest level in the Champion Hurdle, defeating a strong field that included two previous champions. He finished the 2014/2015 National Hunt campaign with a perfect record by taking the Punchestown Champion Hurdle and was marked by the Anglo-Irish and Timeform handicappers as the highest rated hurdler in training.
Faugheen faced the first defeat of his career on his seasonal reappearance in the 2015/2016 National Hunt campaign but bounced back with victories in the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle by 7 lengths in December 2015 and in the next month he took the Irish Champion Hurdle by 15 lengths, the widest winning margin in the race's history. Shortly thereafter he suffered a small injury when resuming training for the Cheltenham Festival and missed the rest of the season. Further injuries kept him out for the 2016/2017 season, and he returned to the racecourse in November 2017 with victory in the Morgiana Hurdle. A lacklustre performance saw him pulled up in the December Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown. He was beaten into second place in the Irish Champion Hurdle and there was a disappointing performance in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham before his final race of the 2017/2018 season saw a return to form with victory in the Champion Stayers Hurdle at Punchestown.
The 2018/2019 season was Faugheen's first season on the racecourse without a win. He came second in the Morgiana Hurdle and experienced the first fall of his career in the Christmas Hurdle. At the Cheltenham Festival he was placed third in the Stayers' Hurdle and at Aintree was pulled up in the Aintree Hurdle. In October 2019 trainer Willie Mullins announced that the 11 year old would start a novice chasing campaign. Faugheen made his debut over fences with a win in a Beginners Chase at Punchestown in November 2019 and followed it up on 26 December at Limerick with victory in the Grade 1 Greenmount Park Novice Chase. Another win at the Dublin Racing Festival in February 2020 took Faugheen's record to 17 wins in 25 races, with eleven Grade One wins. He came third in the Marsh Novices' Chase at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, in what was to be his last appearance in a race. His retirement was announced in May 2021 and he joined the living legends at the Irish National Stud.
Background Faugheen is a bay gelding with a white blaze and white socks on his hind legs bred in Ireland by Dr John Waldron. He was sired by Germany, an American-bred, German-trained horse who won the Grosser Preis von Baden and the Bayerisches Zuchtrennen in 1995. As a breeding stallion he sired several good National Hunt horses including Captain Cee Bee whose win have included the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the Ryanair Novice Chase.
Faugheen's dam Miss Pickering was an unraced daughter of the leading National Hunt sire Accordion and a descendant of the broodmare Meraline, making her a distant relative of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Saumarez. Faugheen is the only winner she has produced to date and hails from the family of the 1973 Group Three Premio Royal Mares winner Ombra Del Sol, herself the dam of the 1981 Old Newton Cup winner Dogberry, and the seven furlong Listed winning pair Borderline and Sapper.
In 2008 as a foal, he was consigned to the Tattersalls Ireland Sale and bought for €4000 by Peter Quinlan. In June 2011, his brother Tom Quinlan sent the three-year-old gelding to the Goffs National Hunt sale and he was bought for €12,000 by Meadowview Stables. He ran his first race in a point-to-point circuit in the colours of Thomas Hassett, who named him after a church near the Bohernamuck crossroads in County Waterford called Faugheen Chapel. After impressing on his debut Faugheen moved on to Rich and Susannah Ricci ownership in the summer of 2012 and was sent into training for Willie Mullins yard.
Racing career
Early career
Faugheen was trained by Andrew Slattery when he began his racing career on the amateur Point-to-point circuit. At the Ballysteen meeting on 29 April 2012 he started 2/1 second favourite for a three-mile maiden race and won by eight lengths from Ballingarrow. Afterwards Andrew Slattery reported that "this is a real good horse who is still very backward, he is only eighty percent fit, but his homework has been very good".
Later that year Faugheen entered Mrs S Ricci ownership and was sent into training with Willie Mullins at which he "was held in high regard". Faugheen was subsequently the subject of support for the 2013 Champion Bumper without setting foot on a racecourse with the yard connections reporting that he won impressively a schooling bumper but after an absence of over a year due to injury the gelding returned on 11 May 2013 in a twenty-two runner National Hunt Flat race at Punchestown Racecourse. Ridden by his trainer's son Patrick Mullins, he started 11/8 favourite and accelerated clear of his opponents in the last quarter mile to win by twenty-two lengths from Josses Hill.
2013/2014 National Hunt season: Novice hurdles In the 2013/2014 National Hunt season Faugheen was campaigned in novice hurdle races. He made his jumping debut on 17 November, ridden by Ruby Walsh, he started the 1/5 short favourite for a race over two miles and six furlongs at Punchestown. After keeping tabs on the leaders throughout the race Faugheen was still on the bridle as he coasted clear in the home straight. The only danger appeared to be at the last obstacle at which he took an untidy jump but was still well on top off the out of depth adversaries without Walsh asking for any serious effort out of his mount.
Three weeks later he was entered for the Meath Novice Hurdle over two and a half miles at Navan Racecourse. Ruby Walsh beforehand said that Faugheen "absolutely bolted up at Punchestown on his first run of this season and the third, Oscar Chimes, won since in Thurles, so the form doesn’t look too bad" and reported that he had "worked really well during the week and is, without doubt, the reason I’m staying at home." He was again sent off at prohibitive odds but confirmed the expectations winning by four and a quarter lengths from Empire of Dirt. After the race Walsh said "He jumped better today but there is still room for improvement. He'll keep learning and the only way he'll do that is through racing so that's why Willie wanted to come here first before going for a graded race. He deserves his chance in the big time".
On 28 December Faugheen was moved up in class for the Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle graded event over three miles on heavy ground at Limerick Racecourse. By this time, the previously beaten horses started to frank the form, leading with the bumper 22 lengths runner-up Josses Hill who was purchased for £100,000 and subsequently won his next 2 races, therefore the raise in class proved of little concern and Faugheen "maintained his unbeaten record in effortless fashion when taking the Novice Hurdle at Limerick". Ridden by Emmet Mullins, the nephew of Faugheen's trainer, he led from the start and won by five lengths from The Job Is Right despite jumping poorly at several of the obstacles.
Cheltenham Novices' Hurdle At his first Cheltenham Festival appearance Faugheen contested the Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle – his first race at Grade 1 level – over two miles and five furlongs where he started as the 6/4 favourite against fourteen rivals headed by Red Sherlock and Rathvinden, the first and second-place finishers in the Classic Novices' Hurdle. Ruby Walsh tracked the front-runner Cole Harden before taking the lead at the third last at which he blundered but managed to stay upfront putting in another awkward jump at the second last hurdle while horses from off the pace were starting to make their presence felt in behind. At the turn Walsh asked his mount for the final effort and Faugheen responded by steering away from his rivals and finishing four and a half lengths at the line ahead of Ballyalton and Rathvinden who were both kept off the pace throughout the race.
The overall time of 4m 54.80s was the second fastest in the history of the race and both Faugheen with the front-runner Cole Harden who helped in achieving it, returned the next year at the Cheltenham Festival with victories in the Champion Hurdle and World Hurdle. After this race the already popular nickname "Faugheen The Machine" started to officially get used in news articles and in live commentaries e.g. Channel 4 commentator on Boxing Day.
Herald Champion Novice Hurdle Faugheen's final appearance of the season was on 29 April and started the 1/2 favourite when dropped down in distance for the Grade 1 Herald Champion Novice Hurdle over two miles at the Punchestown Festival. Unlike Cheltenham, this time around he had to make his own fractions and set a decent gallop upfront. Just before the home turn Ruby Walsh asked him to extend the lead and the response was instant, pulling clear of the pack in the home straight. Walsh was back on the bridle after jumping the last and started to pat him in the last 100 yards still finishing twelve lengths in front of his stablemate Valseur Lido. According to the Racing Post he was an "incredibly easy winner... pulverising his rivals with an emphatic display of acceleration". Timeform also cemented that view in their race analysis: Faugheen is of the type who don't come around very often, adding another string to his already loaded bow as he had no problem at all dropping to 2m, demolishing a field of very useful rivals with a performance that had to be seen to be believed... After the race, Ruby Walsh said: "I was fairly adamant that the run at Cheltenham would improve him jumping-wise and that proved to be as he jumped like a buck today. I think Willie is keen to go jumping fences with him but he's in the mix now [for the Champion Hurdle] – it will have Willie scratching his head". Willie Mullins confirmed later that day: "he´ll stay hurdling next season. He´s a keen horse and likes to get on with the job so he could well stay at this trip." earning him Paddy Power quotes of 5/1 co-favourite with The New One and stablemate Vautour for the 2015 Champion Hurdle.
2014/2015 National Hunt season
Ascot Hurdle On his first appearance against more experienced hurdlers, Faugheen contested the Ascot Hurdle over 2m f on 22 November 2014. As in most of his previous races, he took the lead from the start and was never seriously challenged, winning by three and three-quarter lengths from the Nicky Henderson-trained Blue Fashion. Mullins later said: "Dan Skelton, who stood in for me on the day, remarked to Ruby (Walsh) that he'd never saddled a horse as fat as that for a big race. If he can do that with that amount of condition on him there must be huge improvement in him". After the race the William Hill made Faugheen 9/4 favourite for the 2015 Champion Hurdle.
Christmas Hurdle (1)